Gone With the Wind
by HackedByAWriter
Summary: Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson are two names that do not mix at Goode High School. Annabeth is considered a nobody. Percy is the popular jerk that every cliché story needs. They have been sworn enemies since third grade. But what happens when they are thrust into a situation where they must rely on each other for survival? AU, rated T. Full summary and intro inside.
1. Prologue

**_Read and review. All rights go to Rick Riordan_  
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_**PROLOGUE**_

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"Good luck, Annabeth!" Piper McLean encouraged her friend. "Show them who's in charge around here!"

Annabeth Chase laughed. "Thanks, Piper. You, too. I'm nervous though. I hear the other teams have really good athletes."

"Not if we can help it! You just worry about stretching your knee and getting out of those starting blocks and then we'll practice our handoffs."

The two girls were getting ready for their track meet. Both of them did the high jump, 100 meter sprint, 100 meter hurdles, and 4x100 meter relay. They were among the best track athletes to ever come to Goode High School. This particular meet, however, would be a challenge. The other team was rumored to be the best in the league.

In her right knee, Annabeth had patella tendonitis, when your patella tendon, which was underneath the kneecap, becomes inflamed. It is painful to extend the leg after doing anything active, and she had to take physical therepy. She needed a special brace for her knee. It didn't stop her, though. However, it did give her trouble when she was crouching down in the starting blocks.

Even though she was amazing in the event, Piper had some trouble with her hurdle form. She didn't lean as much as she was supposed to.

_"We will be starting with the girls' one hundred meter sprint,"_ The announcer's voice echoed throughout the track. _"Any participants please make your way to the starting line."_

_This is it_, Annabeth thought. _It's time to show those girls how it's done._

She jumped around a bit in her lane, warming up. Her knee hurt more than usual tonight. She couldn't let it distract her, though. She tightened the brace.

She looked up into the crowd. She noticed her stepmother and stepbrothers, but her dad was nowhere to be seen. No surprise there. Bobby gave her a wave and two thumbs up. She returned a small smile.

_"Runners,"_ The announcer called. _"Take your mark."_

Annabeth stepped into her blocks, wincing a bit as she bent her knee.

_"Get set,"_

She cleared her head completely. She took a deep breath.

_BANG!_

The gunshot cracked throughout the fields. The runners took off.

The girl in the second lane took the lead. However, she kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was gaining on her. Not a good strategy. Piper, who was in lane five, quickly overtook her.

_Sorry, Piper!_ Annabeth thought as she sprinted past her friend. She could see the finish line. The crowd roared. Annabeth heard someone coming up behind her in the next lane. With a final burst of speed, she put distance between herself and the other girl and sped across the finish line. She had won. The spectators went wild.

_"Lane three, Annabeth Chase of Goode High School, wins the race! She beats the previous school record of 11.4 seconds with an Olympic time of 10.3 seconds! That is also a personal best for her! Congratulations, Miss Chase!"_ The announcer cried.

Annabeth went down with the roar of the crowd in her ears and her teammates on top of her. She cried tears of happiness and congratulated Piper, who had obtained third place, and the other competitors.

She looked up into the spectators and waved at everyone. Bobby and Matthew were going wild. Her stepmother actually seemed impressed. Her other friends, Thalia, Juniper, Katie, Rachel, and Silena, were cheering madly, Juniper in tears.

The rest of the meet went by in a breeze. Piper won on the high jump, Annabeth achieved first at the hurdles, and the two girls led the team to victory on the relay. It was a good day for the Goode High School girls' track team.

Little did Annabeth know that she was being watched carefully. The man was dressed in all black. He stood alone under the bleachers. Nobody noticed him as he crept toward his black SUV, smirking with satisfaction.

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The next day, Percy Jackson was swimming laps around the school's pool to warm up for his swim meet.

"Jackson!" His coach called. "Enough warm-ups! Let's talk strategy."

Percy groaned inwardly. _There _is_ no strategy to swimming,_ he thought_. It's just dive, swim, win._

Still, though, he hoisted himself out of the water. "Yeah, Coach?"

"Don't 'yeah, Coach?' me, Jackson. There's business to be attended to."

"Yes, Coach." _What is this, Military training?_

"Good. Now I want you to give… more of a pep talk this time," The coach mused. "Last time, you were the only one who actually did well. Dalton Smith came in last place, Jackson. _Last place. _That is unacceptable. The Goode High School boys' swim team should be on top every time, do you hear me? We do _not _lose. Swimming is often looked down upon. Ha! They have no idea how much strategy, training, and fitness goes into this sport. You need to make sure that they remember us as the team that was unstoppable. When they are old, in their eighties and dying, I want them to think, _Boy, I remember that swim meet when Goode High School whooped our sorry butts._"

"Yes, Coach."

"Good. Here comes the rest of the team. Get them ready to win, Jackson. I'm counting on you."

"Yes, Coach."

The coach stalked away to taste the water or do some weird ritual.

"Percy!" Jason Grace, Percy's levelheaded cousin, called out.

"Hey, Sparky!" Percy said, using the nickname from when they were younger.

"Stop it," Jason warned.

"Fine, fine. Why, Grace," Percy sighed dramatically. "Must you always rain on my parade?"

"You call it a parade. I call it bad jokes."

"Ouch." Percy clutched at his chest like he was hurt.

"Jackson! Who's this shrimp?" Coach strutted over to the boys.

Jason scoffed a bit and his posture became rigid at the word _shrimp_.

"This," Percy glared at Jason, warning him not to get into it with the coach, "Is my cousin, Jason Grace."

"You two are related?" The Coach wrinkled his nose. "But Jackson! You're so much taller! And he's blond! And your eyes-"

"He's tall for his age! How many sixteen-year-olds do you know that are six feet tall? Probably just him," Jason interrupted. "And cousins don't _have _to look alike."

"Well!" Percy butted in. "The meet's about to start! See? The other teams are already here! Bye, Jason!" He shoved his cousin out of the way.

Coach walked away, grumbling.

Half an hour later, all of the swimmers were in their lanes for the 100 meter butterfly.

_"Swimmers," _The annoying female announcer screeched. _"Take your mark!"_

The boys got ready to dive.

_"Get set,"_

Percy smirked. There was no way he could lose this.

_"Go!"_

With several splashes, the swimmers were off. Percy swam as though his life depended on it. He didn't see any churning water in the lanes next to him, so he assumed he was in the lead. He heard the crowd screaming whenever his head submerged. He slapped the edge of the pool. All done.

Percy had time to take a breather before the next competitor made it to the end.

_"Percy Jackson of Goode High School wins the race! He also set a personal record and achieved an Olympic time of 52.3 seconds!" _

"Yeah!" Percy pumped his fist in the air. The crowd went wild.

The rest of the meet went smoothly. There wasn't a single event in which Goode lost. The Goode High School Boys' Swim Team was seemingly unbeatable.

Nobody realized the mysterious man dressed in black from head to toe as he snuck out the emergency exit. He got into a black SUV and pulled out of the parking lot, smirking the whole time.

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**Hi again, everybody! I'm back! Sorry this was a little short. but it _is _the prologue. Other chapters will be longer, I promise. 2,000 words at the least.**

**So, anyway, I really hope you liked it, I apologize if I screwed up on the swim meet.**

**Ooh, and I'm so excited! Why, you might ask. Well, I might answer, because I have my first track meet of the season on Thursday! Woohoo! Wish me luck!**

**Until next time, my fluffy little bunnies!**


	2. It's All Your Fault!

**_Read and Review. All rights go to Rick Riordan._**

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**Annabeth POV:**

My alarm clock went off at 5:45 a.m.

Monday.

I groaned and tried to swat the snooze button, but I was either too tired or my nightstand moved in the middle of the night because I missed by a mile and landed on the cold floor in a tangle of blankets with a THUD.

I groaned again. My day was off to a bad start already. Yawning, I hoisted myself off the ground and shuffled down the hall to the bathroom. I splashed my face with some cold water and reached for my hairbrush. Once I had tamed the curly mop that I call my hair and forced it into a ponytail, I headed back to my room.

I'm usually a plan-ahead kind of person, unless it's my outfits. I save those for the last minute. Today I picked out a light grey short-sleeve, dark jeans, and high tops. Really plain, not like what my other friend, Silena, would wear.

I glanced in the mirror and frowned. I hated my appearance; small ears, big eyes, and short nose. Nothing that I wished I looked like. My curly, golden blond hair was alright I guess, when it wasn't a tangled up mess. But what can I do? I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life.

I crept downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed my bag and my books. I was the only one awake. My dad was already at work and my stepmother, Sue, was still asleep. And so were the twins, Matthew and Bobby.

It was now 6:15. I decided I had enough time to make lunch for the boys. As much as I feel like Sue is replacing Mom, I have a soft spot for my stepbrothers.

Let's see, I thought. Matthew likes peanut butter, Bobby likes ham. Or is it the other way around? Oh, well. I smeared Skippy peanut butter and jelly onto some white bread and put it in a brown bag labeled Matt. Ham, cheese, and mustard for Bobby, I guessed.

I grabbed two plastic snack bags and tossed some carrot sticks in each one. In two more bags, I put in Cheetos for Bobby, Lays for Matthew, I believe. And a cookie each as a treat.

I grabbed a sticky note and scribbled a message to Sue and the boys:

_Packed lunch for the boys. In the fridge._

_-Annabeth _

I grabbed a piece of gum and walked out the door, ready to face the day. Actually, I couldn't face the day without breakfast. Glancing at my phone to check the time, I figured I could stop into Starbucks to get a bagel and an iced coffee. I sent a quick text to Thalia:

**_Meet me at Starbucks. Need coffee._**

I waited for the reply. Sure enough, my phone beeped almost immediately.

_Sorry Annie but I can't get 2 school today. Stomach flu :(_

**_Oh_**

_Ya tell Mr. Brunner for me_

**_Okay bye._**

Great. Thalia was sick, Piper was on vacation to spend "quality time" with her movie star father, Juniper was in New Hampshire for a funeral, and Silena was in Paris visiting her cousins. I was all alone.

I walked to the coffee shop, pulling my scarf tighter around my neck due to the chilly November air. My breath came out in small puffs.

I entered Starbucks and shivered. This had to be the coldest day of the year. I quickly warmed up, however, once I breathed in the sweet aroma of coffee. I walked up to the girl working at the counter. She had straight, shiny light brown hair that I envied, pale blue eyes that I wanted, and little, yet perfect, makeup. Her nametag read: _Tori. _

"Hi, welcome to Starbucks! What can I get for you this morning?" She said kindly.

I ordered a bagel with cream cheese and a hazelnut coffee.

Once I got my food, I thanked her and turned to leave, but stopped. I faced Tori.

"Do you go to school here?" I asked.

"No, I go to a private school with a few of my best friends. We don't start as early as you do, that's why I'm here." She answered. "Here, let me show you." She showed me the lock screen picture on her phone. It showed her and three other girls. There was a tall Asian girl, another pretty brunette, and a girl with shiny auburn hair and braces. They all appeared to be laughing.

"Cool. Well, it was nice meeting you." I said, smiling.

"You, too. Have a great day!" _Not likely._

I nodded and walked down the block towards the school.

Being a junior at Good High School isn't so bad. Not as bad as I thought it would be when my stepmother signed me up, anyways. I have my friends with me for the ride. I'm an honors student, despite my dyslexia and ADHD. Thalia makes fun of me for being so smart. I always tell her that smart people are the ones who invent what she needs to live; cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc. It usually shuts her up.

But today none of my friends are here. My friend Rachel Elizabeth Dare goes to an all-girls finishing school, Clarion Ladies Academy. She hates it, but apparently she had made some deal with her dad. But of course Drew of all people was there, clinging to Percy Jackson's arm as if it were her lifeline.

Percy Jackson is that jerky jock that every school seems to have. He's a great swimmer, though. I'll give him that much. We used to be friends, but in third grade, he changed. He began hanging out with kids like Ethan Nakamura and Chris Rodriguez. That snowballed into constantly flirting with girls like Drew Tanaka. And since Drew hated even the sight of me, Percy began to bully me. Since he was more popular than I was, everyone joined in. Only Thalia, Rachel, Piper, Katie, Silena, and Juniper were there for me.

But today none of them were here.

I try to walk into the school unnoticed, but no such luck.

"Hey, Chase!" I turn to face Percy. "Where are your loser friends?" He calls.

"Why do you care?" I shout back.

"I don't. But you just looked… so lonely!" He said, clutching a hand to his chest as if it pained him. His idiot friends laughed and sent some nasty jeers my way.

"Shut up, Jackson." I snarled.

"Oh yeah, real mature." He rolled his eyes.

"Hmm, I must have learned it from you!" I retorted. A few of his buddies went, "Ohhh!" Like what boys do when someone gets burned.

"Ouch. But hey, I can take that," Percy said. "And if I can't, I actually have a mother who cares that I can run crying to!"

I stopped in my tracks. I took a shaky breath and tried to restrain myself from ripping his head off with my bare hands.

"My family," I said coolly. "Is none of your business."

"Looks like I hit a soft spot!" Percy was rewarded some high fives and slaps on the back for that. "Yep, I have a caring mother, an awesome stepfather, and a nice little brother. What do you have? A father who is never around, a stepmother who doesn't care, and two obnoxious stepbrothers."

I couldn't contain my anger this time. I ran up to that… that… son of a you-know-what and slapped him across the face. Hard. Drew shrieked. I glared at Percy.

"Never, _ever _talk about my family again." I said in a tight voice. I turned on my heel and stalked away, trying to hide my tears.

~.~.~.~

First and second periods were a breeze. Math with Ms. Dodds and then P.E. with Coach Hedge. It was third and fourth that I dreaded though, because guess who was in those classes? Mr. Percy Jackson himself! Latin and science.

"Hey," A deep voice said behind me.

"Luke, hi!" I replied, turning to face my friend.

Luke Castellan has been one of my closest friends (besides Thalia) for as long as I can remember.

"What are you doing in the junior corridor?" I asked. "You're a _senior._"

Luke shrugged. "Just saying hi, I guess. I have free period, so yeah. Who's class are you off to?"

_I didn't know that seniors had free period now. Maybe things have changed._

"Mr. Brunner's. Actually, here it is. See you later, Luke." I smiled.

"Bye, Annie! Say hi to Mr. Brunner!"

"'Kay, I will! And don't call me Annie!"

I walked into Mr. Brunner's classroom.

"Ah. Hello, Annabeth." He greeted.

"Mr. Brunner." I nodded.

Mr. Brunner is a wheelchair-bound man in his fifties. He always wears this tweed jacket and has a ballpoint pen tucked into the pocket. He showed it to us once. He called it _Anaklusmos. _That's Greek for _riptide_, he had told us. He would joke around and say that it "transforms into a magical celestial bronze sword".

I went and found my seat at the back of the class, glaring at Percy after stepping over his outstretched legs in his poor attempt to trip me. I plopped into my seat with a sigh.

"Good morning, class." Mr. Brunner said.

"Καλημέρα, Mr. Brunner." We chorused.

"Good. Now," He began. "As you all know, we have an upcoming project on Greek mythology. Partners have been randomly assigned. The list is…" He began reading names. I leaned back in my chair. I wasn't worried for this. I could do all the work and whoever my partner is and I would get an A.

"Mr. Rodriguez with Ms. la Rue, and Mr. Jackson with Ms. Chase." Mr. Brunner finished reading the names.

I nearly fell out of my seat.

"Mr. Brunner!" I said frantically. "Mr. Brunner, there must be some mistake!"

"Yeah, for once I agree with her," Percy said. "We can't be partners!"

"I made these pairings for a reason, Mr. Jackson. Now please, go sit with your partner." Mr. Brunner said sternly.

Percy's face turned red and he muttered some incoherent words as he made his way to the back. Everyone stared as he sat in the seat next to mine. I sunk lower in my chair.

"Now that we have our partners, we can get started. The first rule of this project…" I began taking notes of what Mr. Brunner explained. Suddenly I was hit with a crumpled piece of paper. I opened it.

_Ok, I know you hate me and I hate you. So how about you do the project and get us a nice big A on our Poseidon project? We won't even have to communicate!_

_-P_

A note from Percy. I snorted when I read it. I grabbed my pencil and scribbled another message.

_First off, who said anything about doing Poseidon? If I'm going to be doing the work, I should choose the god/goddess. And I would pick Athena. Second, you'll be helping with this._

_-A_

Percy growled. I smiled in satisfaction. He sent another note my way.

_The smart goddess? Nerd alert! We __have__ to do Poseidon! He's awesome!_

_-P_

I glared at the paper.

_You are such an idiot! "He's awesome" is no reason to choose Poseidon! All he did was slice up his father and invent the horse. He's a revenge-craving god!_

_-A_

I heard Percy scribbling something on the paper when _SNAP! _The lead broke off his pencil. I doubled over in silent laughter.

"Something funny, Ms. Chase?" Mr. Brunner called from the front of the room. I stopped laughing.

"N-no, sir."

"Then I guess you won't mind passing me that note?" Mr. Brunner sounded innocent, but I knew he was out to get us now.

"What note?" Percy said. I mentally face-palmed. The idiot!

"The one in your _hand, _Mr. Jackson."

"Oh. This note?" Percy laughed nervously.

"Yes! Now give it to me, and both of you; to the principal's office!"

We got up, our faces burning. We headed towards the door.

"This is your fault, Chase," Percy spat. "You and your note passing!"

"My fault?" I exclaimed incredulously. "As I recall, _you're _the one who started it!"

We were in the hallway now, the one without any classrooms or windows. It was basically just a hangout for before and after school.

"Sure I started with the note, but you didn't have to continue it!" He argued.

"Well it was kind of implied that I should continue!"

"Well at least I…"

Percy was cut off by the beep of the intercom. The voice of Dr. Thorn, the school's vice principal, rang out all over school.

_"Attention, students," _He boomed. _"We are now going into lockdown. This is not a drill. I repeat, not a drill."_

Panic welled up inside me. "Percy, what's happening?"

His eyes flashed with worry. "I- I don't know. But we need to find somewhere to hide."

_BOOM! CRASH! _The sound of gunfire and a window shattering echoed throughout the building. I was used to gunshots at track meets, but this was different. I had to bite my cheek to keep from screaming. My eyes watered with salty tears.

"We're going to be _fine_. Nothing bad will happen to us. Now quit crying and do something!"

I stared at Percy and blinked a couple times. He expected _me _to figure something out? At a time like this, my brain was mush. The fact that you could be potentially murdered at any moment could do that to a person.

"C'mon," He said, rolling his eyes. "The janitor's closet!"

We bolted to the end of the vacant hall. Percy grabbed the handle of the closet and jiggled it a few times. "It's locked."

I remembered the bobby pin sweeping my hair out of my face. I plucked it out of the curly mop and pulled it into a short rod. With shaking hands, I inserted the pin into the lock and wiggled it around. Finally, I heard a _click. _

"Where'd you learn to do _that?_" Percy whispered with wide eyes.

"I live in a house with a stepmother that locks me in my room at night," I explain sadly, recalling the _incidents _with Sue. "I picked up on these things fast."

"Oh."

We leapt inside the closet and closed the door, leaving it open a crack. Another shot. I heard faint voices.

"Castellan!" A gruff voice said. Castellan? I shoved Percy out of the way and peeked through the door.

"Yes, sir?"

I almost screamed when I saw _Luke. _Luke, standing next to a tall, muscular man dressed in black.

"You're sure you saw those kids down here?"

"Yes, sir. Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson."

The man grunted.

I gasped. Percy covered my mouth with his hand.

I heard footsteps coming towards the closet. I squeezed my eyes shut. Percy held his breath.

The door knob turned slowly. I buried my face in Percy's chest, forgetting my hate for him. He made a disgusted sound and pushed me away. I scoffed. I didn't have much time to ponder on a way to get back at him though.

The closet door was ripped open.

"Hello, children." A cold voice growled.

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**Oooh, suspense!**

**Hello! Oh my goodness, guys! What a great response! I checked my email like 10 minutes after I published the prologue and was like 'Oh my freaking gods! I've gotten ****_nine_**** emails for the story already?!' **

**6 follows, 2 reviews, and a favorite in the first 10 minutes! Thank you guys so, so, so, much! **

**And by today I've gotten 28 emails (including the first nine with reviews) filled with reviews, favorites, and follows!**

**Wow.**

**I'd like to give a special shout-out to 'mcfuz' and 'Addicted2PercyJ'**

**mcfuz****: Thanks for that advice, I'll use it! I reread it and realized that you were right; the Author's note ****_does _****drag out the story. It kind of ruins the flow. Thanks again!**

**Addicted2PercyJ****: Lol! I'm glad you and your friends liked it so much! And thanks for that input about the swimming time. Boy, I was ****_way _****off! But don't worry, I changed it! Thank you!**

**Anyone else who reviewed, I thank you a bazillion times over, I appreciate them so much! But these two had some helpful info.**

**Back to the Author's Note. What do you guys think of the first official chapter? I think I'll have much more fun with this than I did with House of Hades. Maybe it's because this is completely original, storyline and all. Except for the characters. **

**Please, please, ****_please _****review! You guys have been great with the response so far! I'm so surprised and excited and I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am. I'm hoping to get at least 150 reviews on the whole story. **

**Constructive criticism is appreciated, flames can and will be extinguished. **

**Hope you liked it!**

**P.S 'Καλημέρα' is 'good morning' in Greek**


	3. Kidnapped?

**_Read and Review. All rights go to Rick Riordan._**

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**_:)_**

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**Percy POV**

As much as I disliked Annabeth, I'll be honest. I really didn't mind when she buried her face in my shirt. I still pushed her away, though. She seemed a little miffed with that. Too bad, princess.

I held my breath as the doorknob turned and the closet door was pulled open.

"Hello, children." A cold, harsh voice said.

Before I could do anything to stop her, Annabeth flew out of the small room. She sprinted at a blond kid, I think his name was Luke, a senior.

"You… you idiot! Traitor!" She kept screaming and cursing at him. She tried to punch and kick him, but to no avail. He grabbed her arms forcefully and yanked them behind her back. Her face twisted in agony. Luke whispered something in her ear, and Annabeth's face paled. But she soon began trying to free herself.

The guy dressed in black just watched in amusement. "Feisty," He muttered to himself. I tried to surge forward, but the man put his arm out and blocked me.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

Either he didn't hear me, or chose to ignore me. I guessed the latter.

"Castellan," He sighed in a bored tone. "You know the drill. I take the boy, you deal with the girl."

Annabeth stomped on Luke's foot, causing him to loosen his grip. She ran towards the guy in black, but was stopped by a gunshot. She froze, her eyes wide in shock.

I hadn't even noticed the man take out his gun, but realized what had happened when he slipped a revolver into his pocket. Annabeth collapsed. There was a bloody wound in her stomach. The spot on her gray shirt was now crimson-colored.

I tried to run to her and see what the damage was, but the man took out his revolver again and held it to my temple.

"Don't. Move," He growled. "Or you both die."

I put my hands up in surrender.

"Castellan!" The man snapped. "Get the girl and take her to the truck."

"No! You can't kidnap us!" I cried.

"Cooperate, boy. This young man," He gestured to Luke. "Has a gun, and also my full permission to kill you or that Chase girl on the spot."

I sighed. Annabeth may be my arch-nemesis, but I couldn't live knowing I let someone, even my sworn enemy, die.

"Don't speak. Don't pull anything. Don't fight back. You know what the consequences will be." The man ordered.

I let him steer me out the back door. I doubted anyone saw us. If they had, they would be out here now. I was lead to a white van that read: _UTBR'S MROHOTAB ILPUSEPS._

Sorry, I have Dyslexia. I assumed the sign actually said _BURT'S BATHROOM SUPPLIES._

But what was printed on the truck wasn't the big thing. I think the fact that I was being kidnapped and no one realized it was a tad more important.

The shrill cry of sirens could be heard in the distance. The guy was pushing harder. The back door of the van was open, where Luke was treating Annabeth's bullet wound.

"Leave it, kid!" The man snapped. "We've got bigger problems!"

"But her wound-"

"I don't care!"

"She's unconscious!"

"Just get up front!"

"Yes, sir."

The man shoved me into the truck, and before I knew it, we were speeding away.

"Annabeth," I whispered. She was slumped against the wall; her breathing had become short and rapid.

My heart was pounding. What would happen when my family found out I was gone? Would anyone from school notice? Of course they would, I'm the most popular junior! I'm not stuck up, it's just the truth. My mom, Paul, Tyson. Tyson, my eight-year-old adopted brother, my little guy. Mom would be crushed; Paul would be, too.

"Annabeth?" I repeated. I scooted over to her side. I shook her. She snapped awake.

"What… where are…?" She looked around.

"Annabeth, we're being kidnapped, remember?" I said haughtily. I didn't remind her about her stomach, however.

"What happened to my… agh!" She made a strangled noise when she felt the warm, sticky blood pooling on the floor next to her. She looked at her shirt. "Stomach," She moaned, completing the thought.

"It's not that bad," I lied.

"Right," She said. "Because… I feel dizzy. And I can't really breathe very easily. It hurts."

"Nah. Don't worry about it."

"So… we- we're actually being…" She looked down at her hands, which were covered in her own blood.

"Yeah," I said softly.

Her eyes watered. She closed them and took a shaky breath. "Why us?"

"Sometimes the most horrible things happen to the best people." I agreed.

"You consider yourself a good person?" Annabeth shot me a look.

"I'm nice to everyone."

She snorted, then winced in pain. "Yep, everyone. Everyone except _me._"

I was silent. I realized that I _was _a mean person. Maybe not outside of school, but I was a complete jerk when friends were around. And my main target had been Annabeth. Annabeth, who had never done anything to me, who didn't deserve all the crap that went on in her life, which seemed like a living Hell. All because of me. _No, _I told myself. _She does deserve it._ Drew told me that she was only mean to  
Annabeth because Annabeth was mean to _her._

"I have a reason to be mean to you. It's because of Drew."

She blinked. "What?" She whispered.

"Look, I hate you, okay? I have a _reputation, _unlike you_._ I hold records for swimming. I'm athletic. I'm _above _you and your friends. And I can't be _that _much of a jerk. The thing is, you were mean to my girlfriend. You made Drew's life Hell when you were younger. She hates you for that. I'm glad I asked her out, because I might actually _be friends _with you if I hadn't."

"Okay, first of all, you have a _bad _reputation," Annabeth said, her voice deadly calm. "No one likes you except for your snotty friends. So you hold records for swimming. I hold records for track! Hurdles, hundred meter, high jump! You wouldn't know that, though. And I never did _anything _to your little Barbie doll girlfriend! We used to be friends. What _happened _to us, Seaweed Brain?"

Annabeth did track? Wow. But she had a good point. Her question pierced my mind, burning itself into my brain. _What happened to us, Seaweed Brain? _What _had _happened to us? The use of my old nickname that she had come up with softened me a bit. But I quickly regained composure.

The truth was, I actually never asked Drew out. I didn't regret what happened, though. She was amazing. For the most part.

What would she be doing now? Crying? Mourning? Cutting?

Suddenly Annabeth gasped and doubled over, clutching her stomach.

"What?" I shouted.

"I'm okay," She gasped. "Really. Thanks for asking."

"No, you're not." I grabbed a towel from a rack and tossed it to Annabeth, who wrapped it around torso. I was sure that Burt wouldn't mind a bloodstained towel, if he ever got his truck back. "Just take deep breaths."

She obeyed. "It does hurt."

"Suck it up, Chase. We'll probably be there soon."

"But where _is _'there'?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. Right now, the only one with a logical thought process has just been shot."

The van screeched to a halt. Annabeth and I were thrown into one another. We crashed heads.

"That hurt my noggin," I rubbed my forehead where we had collided.

The doors of the truck were ripped open. "Get out." The man in black ordered.

I scanned my surroundings. We were… in the middle of the woods? There was a wooden cabin that looked like it was a thousand years old. It was rotting away. A creek snaked through the trees in the distance. I heard no cars, so we were obviously far from the city. Luke was unlocking the cabin door.

"What's your name, anyways?" I asked the man.

"Friends call me Kronos." He grinned evilly. "If I _had _friends."

"Like the Titan?"

"Precisely. Someone pays attention in Latin class!"

Annabeth groaned. She was obviously in pain. Kronos glared at her.

"Quit whining, girl!" He barked. "It isn't so bad. Now get out of the truck."

Annabeth made an attempt to stand up, but her legs shook and her knees buckled. She fell. Kronos snarled and climbed into the truck. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. I thought he would carry her into the cabin, but instead he dropped her onto the ground. She landed with a pained cry. He yanked her to her feet.

I started toward Kronos, but he whipped out his gun and aimed it right between my eyes. "Stay out of this, boy. There is punishment for whining, fighting, and complaining. I'll demonstrate."

Annabeth whimpered.

"Whining, are we?" Annabeth shook her head. Kronos flashed a sick grin before bringing his leg up and kneeing Annabeth in the gut, right on her wound. She began sobbing.

I don't know what I was thinking, but I ran at Kronos. Blame ADHD for my impulsiveness. I heard gunfire, and a sharp pain shot through my arm. I saw Kronos with his gun pointed. The tip was smoking. Breathing heavily, I turned and saw a tiny bullet hole in the tree behind me. The bullet had only grazed my arm, yet it hurt like Hades. I could only imagine Annabeth's pain.

"Stop hurting her!" I shouted.

"Interesting," Kronos examined me. "Now, Mr. Jackson. You seem to care deeply for friends and loved ones. It must simply _torture_ you to see them suffer."

He kicked the backs of Annabeth's knees. She hit the ground, hard. I winced. Kronos laughed. He pulled her up by her hair. She gritted her teeth. Her wound was bleeding openly now; the towel had fallen to the ground. She was breathing heavily. It killed me to see her like that, desperate and defenseless, but what could I do? He would kill us both for sure if I pulled anything.

Why did this have to happen to us?

Annabeth randomly screamed for no apparent reason. My ears were ringing when she finished.

"Shut up!" Kronos hissed, punching her wound. "You're going to get us caught!"

"Good." Annabeth stomped on his toe. He howled in pain and hopped on one leg. She finally passed out. Kronos muttered a few curses and slung her over his shoulder again.

"Hurry up!" He ordered me. "Unless you want to spend the night outside."

~.~.~.~

I slept outside. Apparently that happens when you try to give medical help to your fellow captive. I was out here with no blankets, no pillows, no nothing. Just some dirt, grass, and bugs. I shivered in the cold air.

I wondered if Annabeth was okay. I would hear her whimper every now and then through the open window. Luke had applied bandages and given her pain killer, but the bullet was still inside her body. It would be extremely painful to have it removed. I sighed, listening to the trees creak and the stream running over the rocks. Despite my predicament, it was actually peaceful.

That night I dreamed about my family.

_~.~.~.~_

_"Mommy, what'll we name him?" Percy asked, peering at the small, pale blue bundle in his mother's arms. _

_"Well," Sally Blofis-Jackson said, a twinkle in her eyes. "You turn eight tomorrow. I think _you_ should get to choose a name for your new baby brother." _

_"Really?" Percy beamed. Sally nodded. "Thank you!" Percy hugged his mother tightly._

_~.~.~.~_

_"Tyson." Percy said about an hour later._

_"What's that, sweetie?" Sally put down her book and looked at her son._

_"Tyson. That's what I want to name my baby brother."_

_Sally nodded. "Alright, sweetie. Go tell the nurse down the hall."_

_"Okay!"_

_Percy waddled down the hall to the desk with the strange looking nurse who looked like a clown because she had blue eyelids and long black lashes and bright pink cheeks and cherry-colored lips. She peered down at the eight-year-old boy. _

_"Can I help you, dear?"_

_"Yes. I want my baby brother to be named Tyson."_

_"And what is your mother's name?"_

_"Mommy."_

_"No, dear. Her _real _name."_

_"Oh. Sally Blowfish-Jackson."_

_The nurse looked confused. She shuffled through some papers. She came to one and laughed. "Do you mean _Blofis_-Jackson, dear?"_

_"Oh," Percy nodded. "I think that's her name. I got confused."_

_"That's quite alright. I'll put in the name now. How should I spell the name of your brother? Is it spelt like this?" She wrote the name on a piece of paper and gave it to him._

_Percy thought for a moment. He had trouble with words. The letters got all jumbley and swirly and tipsy and turny. He didn't know why, though. It sometimes looked like _YOTSN _or other times _TSONY. _"Um…"_

_The nurse recognized his confusion. It's T-Y-S-O-N, dear."_

_"Then that's how it's spelled!" He declared._

_"Alright, then. I'll let the other nurses know."_

_"Thank you!"_

_~.~.~.~_

I woke up to birds chirping and yawned. I had a good dream last night. But it hurt to remember my family. I missed them. Maybe that's where the dream had come from. It took me a minute to remember what had happened. It all came back to me in a rush. School, Annabeth, Kronos, kidnapping. Ugh.

I rolled over. My back was stiff. Suddenly the door of the cabin burst open.

"Up and at 'em, Jackson," Luke sneered. "It's late, and Kronos isn't happy. He had a few drinks last night, too. Don't make him any more angry than he already is."

I followed Luke into the cabin. Annabeth was sitting at a small table, staring at a wall. She had a far off look in her eyes. Her shirt was stained with brown blood, so her wound had stopped bleeding, and she didn't seem to be in any pain at the moment. I slid into the seat across from her. "What's for breakfast?"

"Bread and water." Kronos said, stepping into the kitchen. "Hope that's what you like, because it's all we've got."

Luke brought out our "breakfast" and slid the plates and cups to us. Annabeth glared at him. I dug in, but immediately spit it out and took a large gulp of water.

"It's stale!" I complained. Kronos stared at me.

"Did you just… _complain, _Jackson? I know you didn't just complain." He took a step towards Annabeth, who shrunk back in her chair.

"No!" I said quickly. I cleared my throat. "No, it's delicious."

"Good," He grinned. "Because I would _hate _to see it wasted." He laughed evilly.

Creepy, murderous, _and _a weirdo. Boy, we were in for some fun.

* * *

**Um… hi. Not bad, I guess. What do you think? Too rushed? Too short? Weird dream, I know. More of a flashback. It was a little random and didn't have much to do with the plot. But if Percy's missing his family, wouldn't he have a dream about them?**

**Anyways, I was watching this show on Lifetime, ****_Unsolved Mysteries. _****It's creepy, but interesting. There were some stories about dead relatives trying to communicate with loved ones, children being kidnapped, and someone being robbed and murdered. Dark stuff. But there was nothing else on. Some stories are emotional. Others might give me nightmares. We'll see.**


	4. Mrs O'Leary

**_Read and review. All rights go to Rick Riordan._**

* * *

**Annabeth**

After that horrible breakfast (which I ate none of), Percy and I were locked in the house while Kronos went to a bar. Fortunately, that meant we were more or less free to roam the house-cabin-prison thingy. Unfortunately, Luke was left to watch us, breathing down our necks every two seconds.

Luke, that no-good, filthy… Well, whatever.

I thought he was my friend, but _NOOOO! _He just _had _to go and help a criminal kidnap two kids, one being his so-called friend!

I had been imagining cruel and painful ways to murder Luke when my eyes locked on Percy.

He was sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair and staring at the wall. He appeared to be deep in thought.

He actually was very handsome. Well-defined muscles, squared jaw, lopsided grin, unruly raven-colored hair that swept across his forehead, slightly covering his intriguing, sea green eyes that sparkled with mischief. Percy Jackson was a real looker.

_Stop it, Annabeth! _I mentally chastised myself. _There's no point in ogling over a boy when there's work to be done! You should be planning right now! Plus, he's your _enemy, _for Pete's sake!_

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Alright, so there were only three escape routes that I've seen so far. The two doors in the front and back of the cabin, and the window in the bedroom.

Fortunately, Luke was dozing off. I whispered to Percy, "Hey. Luke just fell asleep. We should explore."

"Uh-huh." He replied in a dazed voice.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face, making him look at me. "Do you even know what I just said, Jackson?"

"Wait, what?"

I sighed in exasperation. "I said we should explore. Luke fell asleep."

"Oh. Well _you _can explore, Dora. I'm staying here."

"Suit yourself," I told him. "Just don't come crying to me when Luke wakes up and you're stuck with him breathing down your neck while I'm gone."

"That guy's an idiot." Percy said flatly.

I glared at him. "Just come on."

"Fine." He huffed.

I smirked and stood up, wincing as a searing pain shot through my midriff area. The bullet was still in my stomach. I would have to work on getting it out. "Okay, so there's a hallway over here, probably leading to Kronos' bedroom and a few other rooms," I pointed to my right. "And the bathroom is right there." I pointed to my left.

"Whatever."

I huffed in annoyance. "Let's go down the hall."

I limped away, breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" Percy said from behind me.

"I'm just _peachy._" I grimaced. He continued shuffling along behind me.

I entered a dark room. A small, dirty window was on the wall across from the door. The curtains covering it was full of holes. It let little patches of sunlight enter the room, casting eerie shadows. There was an unmade bed shoved into the corner of the room. A bureau was pushed against the wall opposite the bed, a clouded mirror just above it. Next to the bed was a nightstand. An old-fashioned alarm clock was lying face down on the dusty surface. The floor was littered with dirty laundry, old food wrappers, and smashed bottles. The room wreaked of beer and vodka.

"This," I gestured to the room. "is apparently the master bedroom."

"Lovely," Percy wrinkled his nose and nudged a pair of shorts with his toe. "You know, _my _room isn't even this messy."

Suddenly I heard a scratching noise. Then a deep, intimidating growl.

"What was_ that?_" Percy said.

I walked to the closet on the wall next to the entrance. I opened slowly it and almost screamed, but stopped myself in fear of waking Luke.

There, right in front of me and bearing its razor-sharp teeth, was a _huge _black dog.

Now, when I say huge, people might assume that I mean bull mastiff huge. But this dog was more the size of a small bear. I let out a small squeak.

I remembered learning something in science. A dog will most likely only attack you if you radiate fear. The chemicals that you give off when you're scared makes the dog subconsciously release its inner wolf, thinking that you are its prey.

I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. I slowly approached the creature.

"Chase, what the hell are you doing?" Percy whispered. I ignored him.

I extended my hand toward the monster dog's nose. It moved its head forward and I almost backed away.

The thing opened its mouth…

It started toward my hand…

It was about to bite me…

I closed my eyes. I felt nothing. I opened one eye and realized the dog was gone. Then I saw its tail. The dog was crouched low and was facing Percy, whose eyes were wide.

"Percy," I said carefully. "Do. Not. Move."

"That's kind of hard with ADHD." Was his reply.

Percy had ADHD? Who knew?

"Just try your best." I coaxed. The dog growled.

"Stop panicking," I warned. "It'll only make him attack you."

"I'm not panicking. I used to have a dog." He whispered, not moving a muscle.

Another new thing learned about Percy Jackson.

The dog leapt at Percy. Instead of dodging, he opened his arms as though he was expecting a hug. The thing nearly toppled him over. I thought the dog would snap Percy's ears off, but it just whined and began licking his face.

I stared at the scene before me with wide eyes and my mouth hanging open. Percy seemed just as surprised as I was. "Uh… hi, there!" He said lamely. I snorted. He glared at me. "What's your name?" Percy turned his attention back to the dog.

He tried to look for a collar, but there was only a thin rope tied around its neck. "And why were you in the _closet?_" Percy muttered.

The dog whined again. "We should name her." Percy looked at me.

"What?" I said. "You want to _name _him?"

"Yes, I do," He answered. "And it's a _her._"

"Whatever." I said, venturing back to the closet. What I saw amazed me.

The entire thing was crowded with blueprints, notes, and unfinished projects. I saw automaton, architecture, and weapon ideas. There was a faint silver glow in the bottom of the closet. I shoved aside some papers and a metal… thing. I gasped. On the ground was a small, sleek, grey laptop in perfect condition, unlike everything else in the room. I bent down and picked it up. My fingers glided over the smooth metallic surface.

"Wow," I breathed. I was about to dig through the papers some more when I noticed Percy talking to the dog.

"Hmmm," He mused. "How about… Coco? No, too girly. Shadow? No, that's a boy's name…"

I shook my head at his childishness. I began rummaging around in the notes and blueprints. There was no way Kronos made these. They were so complex.

One blueprint reminded me of my favorite myth that I learned in Latin class, the one about Daedalus and his son, Icarus. The picture showed a set of huge wings with straps to put your arms in. in the margin, a note was scribbled in small, crammed writing.

_NO WAX FEATHERS. Melted last time. Use bronze + silver. Weave tighter. Hold together with self-adhesive strips._

"Who the heck could have made these?" I wondered to myself.

"Yes! That's it!" Percy exclaimed. I shushed the idiot and reminded him that Luke was still sleeping.

"You're gonna get us caught, Jackson!" I scolded.

"Why are you so bossy? It's always your way or the high way." I opened my mouth to retort, but he cut me off. "This is Mrs. O'Leary." He patted the dog and scratched behind his – _er _– her ears. She wagged her tail and licked his face.

"Great," I said, rolling my eyes. Now let's get to the big picture. Why did Kronos have a _dog _in his closet? And what are these blueprints for? Who made them?"

"What blueprints?"

I held up the papers in my hands. "Whoever made these is a genius," I said excitedly. "I mean, look! Automaton lions, eagles, dogs, cats, even _dragons. _And the building ideas are absolutely _stunning. _They would be amazing tourist attractions! But the materials needed to make these things… good luck finding them! Well, I guess this one could be made out of brick, considering the structure. And look at these weapons! They would be awesome in the army! Like, who would think of a pen that turns into a bronze sword? And not just any bronze… _celestial _bronze!" I gushed.

Percy feigned a yawn. "Yeah, okay. Can we finish exploring now?"

Suddenly we heard the door bang open. I heard shuffling as Kronos staggered into the living room.

"Oh, children!" He slurred. "I'm home!"

Percy and I froze.

"Castellan!" Kronos said angrily. "What are you thinking, sleeping on the job? Wake up!"

"S- sorry, sir," Luke stammered. "It- it won't happen a- again."

"It better not," I heard Kronos mutter to himself. "And, um… Castellan?"

"Y- yes, sir?"

"Where," Kronos said, his voice steely calm. "_ARE THE_ _CHILDREN?!_" He shouted.

"Th- they were r- right here in f- front of me! I swear!"

Kronos screamed in rage and I heard a crash that sounded like furniture being turned over. Then I heard a crunch and the sound of a body slumping to the ground. I hoped Kronos had broken Luke's jaw. He deserved it.

Then it was silent. Percy and I wrestled Mrs. O'Leary back into the closet as quietly as we could and I threw the papers in with her. I closed the laptop and dove under the bed, while Percy ducked behind the bureau.

"Hey, kids," Kronos slurred quietly, but evilly. "If you come out I won't hurt you as bad." I heard him scuffling down the hall, toward the bedroom. He was muttering to himself about the pros and cons about having teens work for you.

Percy began to sneeze. He stopped himself, though, but he lurched. The bureau legs scraped loudly against the wooden floor. I cringed. Kronos stopped muttering. I could see his feet as he stood in the doorway.

He began walking toward us ever so slowly. For some reason, whenever he was near me, time seemed to slow. Maybe it was just my ADHD, but still, mere seconds seemed like hours.

He stopped when he reached the middle of the room. He could probably hear my heart as it pounded against my chest like an iron fist. I felt the urge to throw up because my stomach was so full of butterflies.

Kronos' feet turned to face the bureau, where Percy was hiding. Uh, oh.

He grabbed the piece of furniture and threw it aside like it weighed nothing. He was drunk, angry, and even scarier than our first encounter. I heard him breathing heavily, like a furious bear.

"Hello there, _Perseus. _Trying to hide?" I peeked out enough to see him drag Percy from the wall by the collar of his shirt. "Where's your little girlfriend?"

Despite the situation, I nearly gagged. _Girlfriend?_

"She's not my girlfriend." Thank you, Percy.

"Did I _ask_ if she was your girlfriend, Jackson?" Kronos was now nose to nose with Percy.

"No."

"No _sir._"

"Sir."

"Now, Jackson," Kronos sneered. "I _did _ask, however, where she's hiding."

"Where who's hiding?"

"That Chase girl, of course! Who else?"

"I don't know, the pizza man?" Percy was being stubborn. Great. I owed him now.

Kronos growled and slammed Percy against the wall. He pressed his forearm to Percy's throat. "Where is your _companion, _Jackson?"

"I… don't know…" Percy choked.

Kronos licked his lips. "Why are you lying, Jackson? You know where the girl is, so answer me so that I can punish her as well."

Percy's face was turning blue. His feet were about six inches off the ground. Kronos let go and he crumpled to the ground, spluttering and coughing. The drunk kicked him in the ribs. Percy hissed in pain.

Kronos kicked him again, causing him to fall on his side. Now the man could kick his stomach, which he did.

"S- stop," Percy moaned.

"I will," Kronos said. "If you tell me where she's hiding."

Percy was torn. I could tell. His eyes met mine for a split second, not enough for Kronos to notice.

Or so I thought.

Kronos sneered. "Ahhh," He drawled. "I see."

He bent down to look under the bed. I squeezed my eyes shut. "Hi, Annie. How nice of you to join the party." His breath wreaked of stale cigarettes and beer.

He grabbed the back of my neck and dragged me out from my hiding place. I opened one eye and stared at him. He was giving me a death glare.

If looks could kill, I would be nothing more than dust in the wind. He roared in anger and threw me into the wall. My head slammed against the hard surface. I slid to the ground. Kronos pulled me up by my hair.

"Why were you hiding, Chase? And why were you two _in my room?_"

"W- why do you want to know?" I stammered.

"So I know which rooms to _lock _next time I'm gone. What did you find?"

"What do you mean?" I was genuinely confused because my brain was in slow motion.

"What did you find in here? Did you see anything of importance?"

"No, Sir."

"Are you sure? If I look in the closet, will everything still be in place? Will anything be missing?"

He must have seen the panic in my eyes, because he smiled wickedly, showing his crooked, rotting teeth. "Who's idea was it to go exploring, anyway?"

"M- mine, Sir."

He narrowed his eyes at me. Then, when I wasn't paying attention, he shoved me to the ground. I hit my funny bone on the cold, hard wood. My whole arm went numb.

While I was on my back, Kronos lifted his foot and stomped on my stomach, right where the bullet had hit me. I gasped. He did it again, and again. Until finally-

"Sir?" Percy said, standing up from his spot on the ground. "Sh- she was just trying to protect me. It was really my idea to explore. I went through your stuff. I just brought her along."

"What?" I nearly shrieked. Was this really happening? Percy Jackson, my arch nemesis, was sticking up for me? Whether this _was, _in fact, happening, or not, I couldn't let Percy take the blame for something that was my fault. "He's lying! He doesn't want me getting hurt any more! It was all my idea! He didn't want to come along!"

"I hate her! Why would I defend her?"

"He doesn't know what I found!"

"QUIET!" Kronos shouted. "You kids are giving me a _migraine! _What did you find? That's all I want to know!"

"Blueprints," I said at the same time Percy answered with "A dog."

"What were the blueprints of?" Kronos inquired, turning to me.

"Oh, there were so many amazing ideas! There were wings, and buildings, and automatons, and weapons, like that pen that turns into the sword!"

"What did the dog look like?" Kronos asked.

"It was huge," I began, noticing Percy had made his way over to the closet. "And black. It looked like a baby bear," He opened the closet and led Mrs. O'Leary out quietly. "Kind of like that one." I pointed.

Kronos turned around in time for Mrs. O'Leary to jump on him and tackle him to the ground. Percy grabbed my hand and we ran out the door to try and find a new hiding place.

* * *

**Hello, my little Devil's advocates! My cousin got me to watch Wendell & Vinnie the other night, that's where I got Devil's advocate from, in case you were wondering.**

**Ok, so first off, sorry I'm late. I was grounded. ****_"No electronics until you finish cleaning your room." _****Yeah, well I have the biggest room in the house.**

**Then, of course, I had to finish ****_writing _****the chapter. Sorry about the wait!**

**So, I was thinking of doing a chapter in someone else's POV. Thalia's, maybe. You know, just to kinda show how their friends react to the kidnapping. Think I should?**

**Oh, and by the way, you guys are ****_amazing, _****let me tell you. 29 follows and 10 favorites? Plus the 20 reviews! That's so much better than what I had been expecting this early in the story! I mean, as of right now we're only as far as the 3****rd**** chapter of the story, not counting the prologue and introductions. **

**THANK YOU!**

**And peace out!**


	5. A 'Chat' With The Principal

_**Read and Review. All rights go to Rick Riordan.**_

* * *

**Percy**

Alright, so long story short, Annabeth decided to explore and I, being the idiot I am, followed. Then we found a dog named Mrs. O'Leary and these blueprints. After that, Kronos came looking for us and probably broke Luke's face in the process. I sneezed and gave away my hiding spot and Kronos attacked me. I don't know why, but when he asked me who's idea it was to look around, I felt the urge to protect Annabeth. But _nooo! _The one time I'm nice to her, she goes and ruins it by telling the _truth. _So then we set Mrs. O'Leary on him and now we're hiding out in the bathroom.

"Bravo, Chase," I said in a hushed voice. "It's all your fault _yet again._"

"Whatever," She said. "At least we're not dead."

"_Yet. _But just wait until he finds us! I thought _you _were the smart one around here!" I argued.

"I am!" She snapped. "Look what we found! Blueprints, a laptop, and an attack dog!"

"And look what happened! We're hiding out in a freaking _bathroom._" My voice was rising.

"Well at least-"

"Forget it," I said. "You're impossible."

"You're insufferable."

"You're-"

"Hey!" Just at that moment, Kronos barged in. "You two are giving me a migraine, and criminals don't even _get _migraines! What are we going to do about this?"

He slowly approached us. We shrunk back as much as we could, but we were already pressed against the wall. "You two," He pointed at us. "Get up."

"And if we don't?" I said bravely.

"Percy, do what he says." Annabeth muttered, already on her feet and stepping in front of him. Who's side was she on?

"Yes, _Percy. _Do what the man tells you to do and your girlfriend won't get hurt." Kronos mocked. He grabbed Annabeth's throat and started choking her. She mad gagging noises and clawed at his hands. I was torn. I hate Annabeth, but I would also hate to have someone die while I could have prevented it.

"Fine." I snapped and went to join him. Curse my personal loyalty.

He grinned and threw Annabeth into the wall. She slid to the floor, coughing. "Follow me, children. We're going to have a little... _chat_... with the principal."

~.~.~.~

Ten minutes later, Annanbeth and I were tied to wooden chairs in the living room while Kronos and some 'reinforcements' he had called were trying to figure out Skype. Luke was nowhere to be seen.

"No, no, no, Atlas! You have to type in 'winedude' in all lowercase!" The man named Morpheus scolded his fellow criminal.

"But shouldn't it be capitalized since it's a name?" Atlas seemed truly flabbergasted.

"No!" Kronos and Morpheus said at once.

"Curse this modern technology!" Atlas cried.

I stifled laughter and saw Annabeth trying to do the same.

Finally, they were sending a chat request to the school. A small, porky man with a red nose, watery eyes, and curly hair so black it looked purple picked up. Instead of wearing a suit and tie like a normal principal, he wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt. He had a can of diet Coke in his hand. Mr. D said, "Who are you? What do you want? I was in the middle of an online Pinochle game, so this better be good."

"Ah, Dionysus-" Kronos began.

"That's _Mr. D_ to you, buster."

"My bad," Kronos snarled. "Now you listen here, _Mr. D. _I have two kids with me. Heard anything recently about some missing teens by the names of Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase?

Mr. D's eyes widened. "_You _have those kids?"

"Yes I do. And they would like to say something to you." Kronos stepped away from the screen.

"Hello, Mr. D," Annabeth said, reading from the script pinned on the wall above the computer slowly, because of her dyslexia. I didn't even know she _had _dyslexia until recently. "We are in a forest just off of Long I... Long Island. If you want us to re... return safely, then you will pay Nok- Kronos!- you will pay Kronos the money he needs."

I started my section, consisting of longer, harder words to read. "Kro-nos will be accept- no, expecting!- a total of... twin- twenty- twenty th... thousand dollars. If you do not send the money to our loca... local... location in time, we will be punched... punished! We will be punished sev... severely," I said. Then my face paled. "Oh, man."

Kronos faced the camera again. "So, Mr. D, in case that didn't _sink in, _I'll show you an example of what might happen if I don't get the dough. Boys!" He gestured to Atlas and Morpheus.

Dough? What is he, a gangster? I guess he actually kind of is... I snapped myself out of my thoughts before my ADHD kicked in.

Suddenly Annabeth cried out in pain beside me. I turned to look at her and saw her wrist bent in a funny way. Tears streamed down her face. Then I felt a sharp pain in my own wrist and let out a yelp. My wrist matched Annabeth's now. It was all bent and I could already see t swelling.

Mr. D may have been lazy, but he still cared apparently. "Now you listen to me, buddy boy. First you kidnap these kids, causing me some extra paperwork. Then you interrupt my Pinochle game and tell me you want _money?_" He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. "Alright. Fine. You wanna play this game, so be it. But you need to leave Peter and Annie Belle alone. We'll call the police station and have them send an officer with the money and he'll be there by the end of the week."

"Ah, no need to send a police officer. In fact, if you contact the police, I will kill the kids. Mr. D, we have a score to settle. Unless you forget the name of that hotel... Lotus Casino?"

Mr. D's eyes widened. "You're that guy who I won that bet against! Come on, man, that was forever ago! You can't hold a grudge because of something that happened eight years ago!"

"You cheated!" Kronos snarled. "I should've won that money! That's why I want _you _to pay me. And I think that I would still torment these children until the money arrives. I'm a criminal,_ Dionysus._ I do what I want. And don't think their punishment will get better if you don't cooperate. It's the money or these kids. Have a nice day." And with that, Kronos ended the chat. He turned to us. "You better hope your principal makes a smart choice. I would _hate _to see you guys hurt."

"But, boss," Atlas said, puzzled. "I thought you _did _want to hurt them.

Morpheus face-palmed. "You idiot," He droned in his strangely tiring voice. Boss was being sarcastic."

"Oh."

Annabeth and I exchanged a glance like, _Wow. Is this guy for real?_

"Sometimes I think I would have been better off with _Prometheus. _And we all know how much of a pain _he _is."

"I don't know, boss. I kind of like Prometheus-" Atlas began.

"Just... stop talking." Kronos sighed.

"You know," I whispered to Annabeth in a strained voice. "They don't take this whole 'criminal' thing very seriously."

She just nodded in return, a pained expression etched on her face.

Even though she was in pain right now, Annabeth was beautiful. With her gorgeous blonde princess curls, slim and athletic figure, and natural tan, she looked like a typical Cali girl. But her eyes could tell you otherwise. Instead of the traditional blue, they were a stormy grey color and they always looked like they were calculating your every move, deciding how best to take you down in a fight. When we were twelve, sure I thought she was cute. But I couldn't say so because that's when I began hanging out with the group I have now. I hated to admit it, but Annabeth Chase was absolutely stunning.

But I couldn't let her know that. Do you have any idea how much cred I could lose?

Anyway, Kronos had his buddies untie us. We were shoved into a bedroom and the door was closed and locked. This room was emptier than Kronos'. There was a single bed against the wall and a mirror opposite from it. A closet was in the corner. Annabeth limped over to the bed, clutching her stomach, and bent down to look underneath the bed.

"Uh... what are you doing?" I asked her.

She didn't answer. Instead, she reached under the bed and pulled out a sleek, silver slab. I realized it was a laptop with a **Δ**, or the Greek letter delta, on the back. She opened the computer and booted it up. She sat on the bed and winced.

"Again," I said. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a way to remove a bullet from a wound without tweezers or any other medical treatment." She answered, the long, slender fingers of her not-busted wrist flying across the keyboard. After about five minutes of searching, she cursed in which I assumed was Ancient Greek and said, "Nothing. We'll have to either leave it in there or find something to work as tweezers. Apparently it's extremely painful and dangerous to have a bullet taken out, especially without medical assistance. But I think it's worth a shot."

I snorted. "Nice pun."

She glared at me. "Ha-ha. Very funny. Now go look for something to use."

"Why do _I _have to? I have a bad wrist." I complained.

"I have a bullet wound _and _a bad wrist, Jackson. I think you should do the searching."

I grumbled a bit and walked around the room, searching for something that could be of assistance. I found a dirty tissue, some pretty large dust bunnies, a tattered shirt, a shoe, and other useless crap. But when I was looking under the bed, something caught my eye. I saw a glint of silver close to the wall. I reached under as far as I could and pulled out a pair of nail clippers.

"Will these work good enough?" I asked Annabeth, holding up the clippers.

She sighed. "They're probably filthy and disgusting, but it's better than nothing." She snatched them out of my hand, took a deep breath, and prepared to attempt the procedure.

* * *

**Heyyyy! Long time no update! I'm so sorry, I'm the worst updater ever! I always promise I'll do it by a certain time and never do. It would have taken even longer, though, if I stayed on that surprise vacation for longer. For those of you who don't know, my family went on a different trip to make up for the last one. I mentioned it in the update of my House of Hades fic. **

**I know I said that HoH is discontinued, but I posted a chapter saying that I will most likely pick it up after I finish Gone With The Wind. So yeah. I'm hoping that nobody lost faith in me and will continue reading. Fingers crossed!**

**Anyway, I might start responding to guest reviews. How does that sound? I'll probably do this every other chapter, but I make no promises. **

**Also, the next chapter will be in Thalia's POV, so you guys can see what's going on over at the other side. Because I _did _mention other pairings. And there _will _be an apology chapter soon, when Percy and Annabeth realize how ridiculous they've been. It won't be immediate, but it will happen. **

**Yep. Nothing much else to say. So have a great day, and I apologize for being late (again!).**

**Leo: Bye, peeps!**

**Me: Leo? Where did you come from?!**

**Leo: Uh... definitely _not _from your closet.**

**Me: What?! _You were in my closet?! _What kind of creep does that?**

**Leo: I do. And the main reason I am here is to fore shame you.**

**Me: Um... what?**

**Leo: *dope slaps me* Fore shame! You never update when you say you will!**

**Me: I said I was sorry!**

**Leo: 'Sorry' won't cut it. Don't make me cook you like a taco!**

**Me: *gulps***

**Grover: Can it be an enchilada?**

**Me: Beat it, goat boy.**


	6. Skype Calls and Friends

**_Read and Review. All rights go to Rick Riordan._**

* * *

**Thalia**

Stomach flu isn't fun. Especially when your best friend has been kidnapped.

I first found out when Piper texted me.

_OMG TURN ON CHANNEL 5!_

This better be good, I thought as I changed the channel from _The Walking Dead _to the news channel. She had sent it to me, Juniper, Silena, and Rachel. But not Annabeth. I wondered why.

_"-showed up at Goode High School with a gun around 8:25," _My eyes widened as the reporter, Hylla Something-Or -Other, covered the story. _"The school went into lockdown immediately. However, the man was still able to get in. He left the building about ten minutes later with three students in tow. Their names were Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, and Annabeth Chase. The security cameras were able to snap a photo of the man. He seemed to be talking with Mr. Castellan, but not violently. When we replayed the footage, they seemed to be working together. Did Luke Castellan play a part in this kidnapping? Or is it just coincidence? If you have any information regarding this man or any of the three children, please call the number on your screen. Stay tuned for more coverage on the kidnapping tonight at ten. Over to you with the traffic, Will."_

My jaw dropped. I turned he TV off in a daze. I picked up my cell phone and tried to Skype my friends. They all answered.

"_Oh my freaking God!_" I shrieked.

"I know!" Juniper's eyes were rimmed with red. "Why would that happen to Annabeth?"

"Yeah, and Luke was supposed to be our friend!" Piper piped (heh heh) up.

I suddenly felt angry with Piper. She had absolutely no reason to jump to conclusions like that! Luke must have had a reason, he would never betray Annabeth like that! "It's a misunderstanding," I said. "Luke would never do something like that."

"I don't know, Thalia. He doesn't exactly have the best track record…" Rachel said.

Before I could say anything else, five people tried to get into our chat. The names were Jason Grace, Grover Underwood, Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez, and Charles Beckendorf.

"What the…?" I stop.

"Invite them!" Silena urged. I did.

"What do you guys want? And shouldn't you be in school?" I said, rather hostile.

"What?" Jason said with the same aggressiveness as me. "We can't mope about _our _friend being kidnapped, too? And we skipped school today, your highness."

I scoffed.

"You can mope," I said. "But not with us!"

"Fine," Nico said. "We'll just…"

"Wait!" Silena said. "Thalia is just a little stressed. You know, because Annabeth is her best friend and Luke is working with the man who kidnapped her. Annabeth, I mean." She looked at me pointedly.

"Yeah," Juniper added. "They've all been close friends for so long. Imagine what Thalia feels like!"

"Because since Luke betrayed her-" Rachel began.

"Stop!" I said. "We don't know that Luke betrayed us! Maybe the kidnapper guy was just threatening him!"

Nico snorted. "Yeah, and I'm a fairy princess."

"Shut it, Death Breath."

"Guys!" Jason interrupted us before things got ugly. "Shouldn't we, like, figure out a way to save them?"

"Okay, sure," I said. "I'll summon the pegasai and you find the flying monkeys. We'll soar to wherever the man is hiding our friends and kill him painfully! Oh, wait. We have _no freaking idea _where they are!" I'm sure that I was coming off as a madwoman, but I was in panic mode. I tend to get loud and crazy when I'm anxious.

"Calm down, Thalia," Jason said in a gentle voice. "We can't figure this out if we're going into all-out panic mode."

He meant it in a nice way, but for some reason I took it offensively. Maybe it _was _the stress. "You know what?" I glared at them all. "You guys have fun _chatting _and trying to strategize without our best strategist, a.k.a. Annabeth. But I'm going to look for some information around town."

"Thalia!" Juniper exclaimed. "You can't go out! You have the stomach flu!"

"Yeah! You shouldn't leave the house!" Jason said.

"Watch me." And with that, I exited the chat.

~.~.~.~

Ten minutes later, I had overcome my lightheaded-ness, puked in the toilet, eaten some Ritz crackers, and was pulling on my coat. I ignored the ringing noise in my ears and silenced my phone because it was making so much noise as my friends tried to call me back.

I actually have no idea where to start asking for info. I decided my best bet was to ask the people in Starbucks, since that's the last place I know she was before she got to school. Maybe some of the regulars in there had seen her come in and out.

The bell jingled as I walked into the café. I was greeted by the warm aroma of coffee beans and pastries. I immediately felt better.

I walked over to the counter, where a girl with light brown hair and blue eyes was depositing money in the cash register. According to her nametag, friends called her Tori. She looked up and gave me a half-hearted smile. "Welcome to Starbucks," She said as she tried to sound cheerful. "What can I get for you today?"

"Um, I don't really want to order anything. My best friend was in here on Monday, I was wondering if you saw her?"

"Was it Annabeth?" She asked.

"Yeah, did you talk to her at all?"

Tori sighed. "Yeah, I did. We talked about our schools and stuff, but that's about it. Speaking of school, why aren't you at Goode? Do you go to a different school?"

"Uh, no. But the teachers let me take a few days off to 'cope' with losing Annabeth." I lied, putting finger quotes around 'cope' for good measure. If Tori knew I was sick, she would probably stop answering my questions.

"Oh," She said. "It must really stink, losing a best friend. If any of mine were kidnapped like that I would be devastated. You actually seem to be taking this really well."

"It's shock," I said. "The reality will probably hit me later on."

She looked at me with sad eyes. "I wish I could've helped you more. Annabeth seems really nice."

"She is," I smiled.

Tori waited a moment before saying, "You look awfully pale. Are you feeling all right?" She must've noticed that I seemed sick.

"I'm fine, thanks. Just a little shaken up."

"What kind of coffee do you like?" She asked me.

"Uh, I like the caramel mocha. Why?"

Tori nodded and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment. A few minutes later she reappeared with a small coffee and placed it on the counter in front of me. "Here."

"I didn't bring my money, sorry." I apologized, though the coffee smelled delicious.

"It's free," Tori winked. "But don't tell the manager or I'm in trouble." She laughed.

"Thank you, but I really can't take this. I have a really guilty conscious." I said.

"Take it, it's the least I could do." She insisted, smiling.

I finally accepted with a huge thank you. Before I left the counter, I turned and said, "Hey, what's your cell phone number? You seem nice, and I think it would be good to share any information on Annabeth if we hear anything."

Her eyes lit up. "Okay, cool! Here," She scribbled something down on a napkin and handed it to me. In neat printing she had written her number.

"Thanks," I said. "I'll text you later. If you don't mind, I'm going to talk to the people here and see if they know anything. Do you know of any regulars?"

"I see those two often," She pointed to two men wearing suits sitting in a booth. "And her, and that old guy, and…" After a little more pointing, I had gotten the information I needed. I thanked Tori once more and headed over to the different tables.

After about ten minutes of discussing my friend, I realized that businessfolk are hopeless. All of them either stared at me blankly or said something along the lines of, "Sorry, young lady, but I'm an idiot because I don't watch the news and I don't care that your best friend was kidnapped."

Or at least that's how _I _took it.

I left the café with a wave to Tori and headed back to my apartment. I kept thinking on my way there, sipping my coffee frequently. Tori had been the most help out of anyone I'd talked to, which honestly wasn't saying much. I made a mental note to ask for her Skype when I texted her so she could be in on our chat.

Once I arrived at home, I took an Asprin for my growing headache and crawled back into bed, placing the coffee on my nightstand. I pulled out my phone and saw several missed Skype calls from my friend and one from 'WiseGirl53'. That's… Annabeth's! How did she get a computer? I was freaking out. I texted Tori and made sure she was on break. I then asked for her Skype. It was 'Tori68'. I called her and my friends.

"Guys!" I exclaimed "You won't believe what I-"

"Hello, gorgeous." Leo said seductively. I saw him wiggling his eyebrows at Tori, who looked at him funny.

"I have a boyfriend." She said. Leo cursed.

"Anyway," I said. "Guys, this is Tori. I met her at Starbucks. She knows Annabeth a little, plus she gave me a free coffee. She's on break right now, so we have to make this quick."

"I'm on the mobile Skype. I'm not allowed to use the staff computer. I kind of… blew it up once." She said.

"Aw, man," Leo said. "She's gorgeous _and _she breaks things! Guys, this is seriously going to be my wife!"

"Get a life, moron," Tori said. "Josh will kill you."

"Is Josh your 'boyfriend'?" Leo put finger quotes around the word 'boyfriend'.

"Yes." Tori answered.

"Okay," Rachel said, breaking it up. "What's the status?"

"I got a Skype call from Annabeth!" I shrieked.

A chorus of _what_?'s and _no way!_'s emitted from the computer.

"How? She's _freaking kidnapped!_" Nico cried.

"I don't know, but when I got back it said 'Missed call from WiseGirl68'!" I said.

"Are you sure, Thalia?" Beckendorf asked. "You could just be under stress."

"No, I swear to the gods that it was there! I'll invite her for the chat! Watch!"

I clicked on the button to invite Annabeth. It rang a few times before it said that it was connecting. Soon, her image popped up on the screen. "Annabeth!" The girls shrieked. "Percy!" The boys exclaimed at the same time as us.

"Guys!" They said with the same enthusiasm. I saw tears welled up in Annabeth's eyes and her abdomen and wrist were bandaged, her shirt bloodied. Percy also had a bandage on his wrist.

"We don't have much time. He left to get some beer a while ago; he should be back soon." Annabeth warned.

"How are you chatting withus?" I asked.

"I stole a laptop. A really nice one actually." Was her answer.

"What happened, Annabeth?" Silena said once we had all gotten over our shock and jubilee. "Why are you bleeding?"

"Um… he shot her…" Percy trailed off.

"What?" We all shouted.

"I'm gonna _kill _that son of a -"

"Thalia!" Silena shrieked. I didn't finish my thought.

"I… I'm fine though," Annabeth said. "I just got the bullet out like twenty minutes ago. I'm only a little sore."

"A little sore?" Percy said. "Annabeth, you were just sobbing uncontrollably."

"Shut up, Jackson." She wacked his arm. "We also had our wrists broken." She said to us.

"Are you two… getting along?" Nico yelled. "Holy Hera, we've morphed into a parallel universe!"

"Ha-ha. Quite the comedian, di Angelo." Percy said sarcastically. Nico grinned and flipped him off.

"Annabeth," I said, my voice soft. "Where… where's Luke?"

She and Percy silenced. Annabeth's eyes filled with tears again. "Thals," She said. "He… he betrayed us. He's working with the guy, Kronos."

"What?" I said. "No!"

She nodded sadly.

"Thalia, he… maybe he had a reason." Annabeth said gently.

"I doubt it." Leo said. Everyone but me glared at him. "Oops. I mean, yeah! Yeah, he must have done it for a reason!"

"Except for one, uh... minor detail," I said. "You all shot down that idea."

"No, actually just Nico did." Leo pointed out.

"Shut up," Said boy growled.

"On another note," Juniper butted in. "Do you know why he kidnapped you? Was it ransom or something?"

"Apparently he has some old score to settle with Mr. D." Percy said.

"Our principal?" Grover said.

"No, the other Mr. D from Mount Olympus. Who do you think?" Percy said. Beckendorf snorted.

"And," Annabeth said before we could start arguing again. "apparently he hates our parents. Our birth parents, not our step parents."

"In other words, my birth dad and Annabeth's birth mom." Percy stated.

"Oh…" Silena said, dragging out the word.

Before I could say anything else, I heard a door slam and someone stumbling around. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, eyes wide in fear.

"Gotta go," Annabeth whispered. "He's back."

"Wait!" I cried. Where are you?"

She exited the chat before any of us could say goodbye and/or good luck. She hadn't answered my question. We all stared at each other.

"Guys, I'm going to tell the manager that I feel sick. I think I can convince him, considering he's madly in love with me." Tori said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Okay, we'll wait." I told her. She nodded and set her phone down.

"Guys, I'm marrying her," Leo stated, watching her as- I mean… _butt _as she walked away. "I don't care about this 'Josh' character." We all groaned.

We had the usual stupid argument about which sport is better. Archery (me), volleyball (Silena and Juniper), track (Piper), or football (all of the boys). Finally Tori came back and said, "Okay, those sports are all awesome, but soccer beats all of them," She laughed. "And I'm leaving now. I just have to walk to my apartment."

Tori grabbed her keys and began walking down the block

"Oh, Tori," Rachel said. "I meant to ask you- why aren't you in school?"

"I go to a private school," She answered. "If we take these special classes and keep our grades up in them, we get one day off every other week."

"Awesome! What school is that?" Leo asked.

"It's a school for smart girls only." Tori answered. Leo pouted.

We had another argument, about TV shows this time. Nico and I liked _The Walking Dead, _Tori, Piper, and Silena watched _Dance Moms _all the time, Juniper liked _The Pioneer Woman, _Jason, Grover, and Rachel enjoyed _Ridiculousness, _Beckendorf liked to watch reruns of _Mythbusters, _and Leo… Leo apparently liked watching _Dora the Explorer _because 'they share the same ethnicity'.

Once Tori had gotten into her apartment, she sat on the couch and flipped on the TV. "Do you guys want to come over here and we can strategize? I'll make popcorn."

"Yes!" Leo cried. Everyone stared at him. "What? It's not often that a pretty girl wants to have the Supersized McShizzle over her house."

Tori shuddered. "Anyway, I'm living in East Village Rental Apartments in Downtown Manhattan. Apartment 32b."

"I'll go," Silena said. "That's not too far away from where I live. I came back from Paris yesterday."

"Same here," Beckendorf said. "I mean, I don't live far away. I didn't go to Paris."

"I'll go, too," Piper said. "I just got back from my dad's this morning, so I'm free."

"And I got back from New Hampshire around three O'clock on Monday." Juniper added.

"Alright, so you can all come?" Tori asked.

"I'm sick." I said.

"Yeah, I kind of figured. You looked a little off. You can still come though."

"Alright," I smiled. "See you then."

* * *

**Woohoo! An on-time update! It's a Christmas miracle! I have a friend named Myracle… don't you think that would be weird? Whenever someone says something like, "She's a living miracle!", it's like they're saying it's a Christmas… you. Same with names like Destiny and Faith and Hope. I'm rambling, sorry. Anyway, I hope I didn't make too many mistakes!**

**Um, not much to say. Ooh, but I do have some advertising! Do you like Hunger Games and wish you could make your own tribute? Because I just made a SYOT story. Check it out!**

**I know you're thinking I'm crazy, starting a new story, but this one will take a while because I still need more tributes. I only have a few so far.**

**And I also adopted another story from Field of Lies. It was originally called ****_'My exquisite Savior' _****but I renamed it as ****_'Safe and Sound'. _****I won't update it very frequently, as this story is my number one priority. But if you want to review, favorite, or follow ****_Safe and Sound, _****be my guest. **

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed, favorited, and followed this as well. It really means a lot! Love you guys! Apology chapter is up next!**


	7. In Which Fatal Flaws Are Discussed

_**Read and Review. All rights go to Rick Riordan.**_

* * *

Kronos was mad. Really mad. Like take-everything-out-on-Percy mad.

But Percy had made a really stupid decision, and I have no idea at all why he had done it.

_"Gotta go! Bye, guys!" I said, hanging up the Skype message. As soon as I did, Kronos barged in, more drunk than I had seen him so far._

_"You," He slurred, pointing at me._

_"M- me?" I stuttered. What had I done?_

_Kronos_ _rushed forward, reaching for me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact, but it never came. I opened my eyes and saw that Percy had stepped in front of me, protecting me._

_What the heck?_

_Kronos growled in rage and threw Percy into the wall with superhuman strength. He stalked over and grabbed Percy's shoulders, lifting him up. Now, Percy wasn't exactly heavy, but he definitely wasn't light, either. He was six feet tall, for crying out loud!_

_Kronos slammed Percy into the wall repeatedly. I watched helplessly frozen in place. I couldn't move. I could hardly breath As Kronos punched and kicked my friend._

And that brings us back to the present. Now you're probably thinking, What? Annabeth Chase calling Percy Jackson a friend! It's the apocalypse!

Well it's certainly not the apocalypse. But yeah, I consider Percy and I friends again. Almost a week in captivity can really help two enemies bond a bit. I still, though, couldn't figure out why he had intercepted Kronos, who was currently beating the crap out of him.

It hurt to watch it. I had finally had enough of this. "Stop!" I cried, "You're hurting him!"

"I know. That's what he gets." Kronos explained drunkenly like I was a two-year-old.

"Well stop!" I pleaded. "What did he do to deserve this?"

Kronos glowered at me, practically radiating anger. I flinched.

"You know what?" He snarled. "Fine. Here. Take your little boyfriend. But don't think this is over."

He kicked Percy one last time for good measure before shoving him towards me. Percy, being unbalanced, barreled straight into me, knocking both of us onto the bed. Kronos left, slamming the door behind him.

"Sorry," Percy mumbled still on top of me.

"Um, for what?" I said.

"For knocking you over." Yet, he was still on top of me. I felt his bad breath on my face.

I placed my hands on his chest, being cautious of my bandaged wrist, and lightly pushed him to the side, sighing. "Seaweed Brain, don't apologize. It wasn't exactly your fault."

"But admit it. _You lo-o-oved_ it when I was on top of you there." He winced after he said that.

I scoffed. "As if, Jackson. As if," Then I said, "Why did you step in front of me like that?"

"I'm too loyal for my own good. I can't stand seeing someone get hurt. It's kind of like my fatal flaw, I guess."

"Oh," I thought for a moment. "Mine would probably be hubris."

"Hummus?"

"No, _hubris. _Deadly pride. I hate it when people doubt me. My half brother, Malcolm, he has the same thing. We think we can do everything better than everyone. But, we really can't. We just _have _to prove everyone wrong. It's going to be the death of me one day."

"Oh. Well I'm sorry if my personal loyalty ever makes you angry."

"You always make me angry, Seaweed Brain. But I'm sorry if my hubris ever gets on my nerves." I smiled.

"You always get on my nerves, Wise Girl," Percy mimicked. "I'm also sorry about everything else."

That one caught my attention. "Uh, what was that?" I said in a small voice.

He sighed, shifting to a more comfortable position on the bed. "I said I'm sorry for everything else. Bullying you, giving you a hard time. We actually wouldn't be here if it weren't for that note I passed you. I'm a jerk, I know. And you were right. It's Drew. She totally changed me, for what I thought was the better. I was wrong. I never should have ditched you all those years ago. I miss my Wise Girl."

I was speechless. Percy Jackson, school jock, most popular junior, was apologizing. And it only took four days as hostages and several beatings.

"I- I apologize, too," I said. "I apologize for slapping you. And acting like a know-it-all, like I was better than you. I'm sorry I ever left. I miss my Seaweed Brain." I smiled.

"Well," Percy moved closer to me. "Your Seaweed Brain forgives you."

"And," I said. "Your Wise Girl forgives you also."

Percy spread his arms out wide. I realized he was asking for a hug. I smiled and welcomed his embrace. He smelled good. Like the ocean. I wondered how; we had been here for a while without deodorant of changes of clothes. My hair was a mess, and I was sure I didn't smell fabulous, either. Still, I was warm and for the first time in days, I felt protected.

"Get some rest, Wise Girl." Percy told me. He moved off of the bed.

"But what about you?"

"I'll take the floor. It's no big deal."

I began protesting, but he soon tuned me out. I sighed and turned over. It was silent for the next few minutes. I think Percy assumed I was asleep, because I felt him plant a kiss on my forehead and I heard him whisper, "Sleep well, Wise Girl."

* * *

**Yeah, super, extremely, ultra, incredibly short. And late. Ugh, it burns! I know. I just felt terrible not updating. Like I was having withdrawals. I'm really not proud of this chapter. But seriously, read below. It's happier :)**

***SQUEALS* Guys, oh my gosh! It's almost officially my one-year anniversary of being on FanFiction! Yay! *SQUEALS AGAIN***

**I'm including this piece now, since I'm not sure when I'll update again. But you can skip this if you want. It's just a really corny thing.**

**On October 29, 2012, I first stumbled across this site and said, _'Wow. This is what I want to do with myself.'_**

**This showed me that I would love to become an author someday. After all the support I've gotten, I now know that anything is possible. I've always been that quiet girl in the back of the class, who would spend all her free time reading a book by herself. But after FanFiction, I've really come out of my shell. I have a very large friend circle, I'm more outgoing, and definitely not the girl I was when I started. **

**I think my writing has improved much as well. I'm not saying it's amazing, because it's very far from that. But it has definitely gotten better. I live here now. You guys are my family. This website got me through some extremely tough times. I cannot thank everyone enough for giving me so much feedback (including the flames). I can't even put it into words how grateful I am.**

**Thanks to my first ever reviewers: _Bob Marley _(Guest) and _silver marble unicorn_**

**And thanks to my first ever story follower/favorite: _Annabeth Chase The Wise Girl_**

**Also my first ever follower/favorite: _Annabeth Chase The Wise Girl_ (Again!)**

**It's been amazing here, it really has. I've made so many friends! Some across the globe, some only a few states away. I wouldn't be surprised if I know someone in the next town over!**

**When I first started out on FFN, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I was so eager to update my stories and publish new ones. I met someone right off the bat from Australia. It's absolutely amazing. FanFiction brings people together all around the world, and the best part is, we're all here for one reason, and one reason only: to read and write for pleasure!**

**I know this is all corny and I sound like I'm trying to be an old-timer, but I'm not. FFN is absolutely amazing, and I just want everyone to know how much I appreciate you all.**

**One special shoutout to TDog.1997. He's absolutely, 100%, amazingly pure genius. Check out his House of Hades fic, and also his Harry Potter one (if you're into that stuff).**

**Here's the names of his stories:**

**Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades _(PJO)_**

**Heroes of Olympus: The Wrath of Earth and Shadows _(PJO, read HoH first!)_**

**The Reznoten Chronicles: Reign of the Black Raven _(HP)_**

**Until next time, ciao!**

**P.S. I just set up a beta account, if anyone's interested.**


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